Karnataka: Yeddy lands in more trouble

He may have survived two trust votes in the House, but Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa's latest trouble is brewing at home. His two sons-B.Y. Raghavendra, MP from Shimoga, and B.Y. Vijayendra, a backroom party operator-are embroiled in a multi-crore land scam that is rooted in the BJP Government's undue haste in denotification of land.

Vijeyendra, on Yeddyurappa's right, and Raghavendra on his left.

Documents accessed by India Today show how Yeddyurappa flouted rules to favour his sons, Raghavendra and Vijayendra. Gowramma and Panduranga, the owners of an acre-plus plot at Rachenahalli in Bangalore, had granted the power of attorney to Krisnaiah Setty, the chief minister's aide. Setty sold the land to Raghavendra, Vijayendra and Yeddyurappa's son-in-law Sohan Kumar in March-April 2006. Adding to the mystery is a letter to the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) in the names of Gowramma and Panduranga seeking denotification of the land.

Although the transaction took place when Yeddyurappa was deputy chief minister and finance minister during the JD(S)-BJP coalition government, it was a violation of the Karnataka Land Transfer Restriction Act of 1991. Setty, who briefly held the Muzrai (religious endowment) portfolio in the Yeddyurappa government, violated rules by selling the land which was already in the BDA's possession.

In August 2008, Gowramma and Panduranga wrote to the BDA requesting denotification of the same land. Interestingly, Yeddyurappa became chief minister on May 30 the same year; it was his prerogative to convert agricultural land to residential, thus enhancing its value manifold. Nearly 180 acres of land have been denotified by Yeddyurappa in just 30 months, 130 of them this year alone. Almost all would have been developed as sites by the BDA.

In May 2007, Yeddyurappa granted two acres of land to Fluid Power Technologies Pvt Ltd in Jigani on the outskirts of Bangalore. The property was under litigation when the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board gave it to Fluid Power. While sanctioning of land takes years, in this case it was done within a fortnight. Raghavendra and Vijayendra are on Fluid Power Technologies' board of directors.

In another case, Setty's November 2008 appeal to the BDA seeking denotification of 17,425 sq ft of land in Rachenahalli was also cleared by Yeddyurappa. Setty sold the land for Rs 60 lakh in May 2008 to Davalagiri Property Developers Pvt Ltd, represented by Kumar. Its directors include Yeddyurappa's two sons.

A huge parcel of land in Bangalore's posh Raj Mahal Extension was denotified to indirectly help Raghavendra. As deputy chief minister in 2006, Yeddyurappa had ordered legal action against one G. Selvakumar for encroaching on 14,400-odd sq ft of land acquired by the BDA. The petition had been filed by current Congress Rajya Sabha MP Anil Lad.

When Selvakumar petitioned the court in August 2006, his plea was dismissed. When Kumar appealed to Yeddyurappa for help, the chief minister did a complete flip-flop. In January 2010, he gave his approval for Selvakumar to hold on to his land.

In June 2010, the Raj Mahal Vilas Residents Association (RMVRA) complained to the state Urban Development Department that the denotification in Selvakumar's favour was illegal. RMVRA's contention is that the BDA had already acquired the land being held by Selvakumar and had marked it as a civic amenity and park site. The RMVRA also complained that in 2009, the BDA had "illegally" formed a four-site layout in RMV Extension.

Two prime plots of 4,000 sq ft each were given to Raghavendra and Shimoga bjp legislator Bharathi Shetty. The engineers and contractors for all sites are K.S. Prasanna Kumar and Sri Sai Enterprises. Raghavendra's plan was sanctioned on May 15 by the city corporation and Shetty's was cleared on June 25. So is Raghavendra the owner of all the sites?

There is talk of a signature campaign within the BJP to oust Yeddyurappa and replace him with someone friendly to his detractors who include party general secretary and Bangalore MP Ananth Kumar. While Yeddyurappa is trying to dodge the issue by saying he was only following his predecessors's examples, JD(S) leader H.D. Revanna wants the Chief Justice of India to name a retired Supreme Court judge to probe the shady land deals. Yeddyurappa's troubles seem far from over.

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